Paras

The small shop was still and quiet. Two desk fans swept back and forth, one rustling some dried corncobs. It all blended into a background hush. A small Paras, a red Bug Pokemon with orange mushrooms growing out of her back, was peaceably gnawing on a ginger root on top of the checkout counter. There was no human in the shop. Despite this, the sign on the door claimed that the shop was open.

The natural foods and herbs store was stuffed with products. The shelves were full of a mixture of natural remedies and organic foods. Customers said that it had a distinctive smell, a complex mixture of all the products there: earthy and fruity, dense and tangy, mysterious and somehow familiar. Despite the old world philosophy, there were a few infiltrations of technology: small speakers scattered throughout the store playing ancient music, the computerized register, and the tiny bar code scanner carefully attached to the Paras' left forearm.

A jingle of the front door broke the Paras' attention from her lunch. A boy and girl walked in. Judging from their gear, they were Trainers. "Man, this place smells weird," the boy said.

"It's natural, so it has to be good," the girl retorted. She came in further to look around the shelves. "Hello? Anyone here?"

The Paras went up to the register and ran her scanner against a bar code there.

"Good day," the speakers answered from a recording. "I have gone out for a little while. If you need assistance, please ask my Paras. She can handle purchases of most items in the store. For anything in the locked cabinets, you will need to wait until my return."

"Ask his what?" the boy asked.

The girl found the counter, so the Paras waved her claw. "I think it's this Pokemon. Aw, she's cute." She picked her up. "But what's with the mushrooms?"

The Paras patted the girl's hand, then jumped back onto the counter. She scurried over to a glass jar with dried mushrooms in it and scanned the bar code. "Dried tochukaso mushrooms," a nearby speaker identified. "This mushroom lives symbiotically on the back of the Pokemon Paras. When eaten, this mushroom promotes longevity, joint flexibility, and heart health."

"Sounds good." The girl glanced over the label on the jar. "Uh, but maybe not for that price."

"Well if it only comes from a Pokemon, it would be hard to get." He came over to the counter and crossed his arms over his chest. "So this old shop has a computer that can answer verbal questions?"

"No, didn't you see?" She picked up the Paras again. "She has this itty bitty scanner that tells the computer what we want to know about."

"Huh. I've always wondered why, if they can understand us, why don't they talk like us?"

The Paras clicked her mandibles and rubbed her legs together. "You want me to talk like you when I can only make sounds like this?"

"Well I think she must be very clever if the shop owner will let her run this place while he's gone." She looked at the Paras. "I'm looking for some honey drops, if you have any. One of my Pokemon is sick with a sore throat."

She waved a claw in an affirmative reply, then pointed to Aisle 3. She had to correct the girl from going down Aisle 2, then guided her over to a basket of various bags of the drops she wanted. Then she waited to be of more assistance.

"Could you get a basket?" the girl asked.

"Sure thing." He went back to the entrance to fetch one. "Which one of yours is sick?"

"Girafarig. She won't speak and has a hard time eating. But Nurse Joy said it didn't look serious and recommended this place."

The boy came into the aisle. "That sounds miserable."

"Yeah, even her tail is being quiet. I hope this is really all she needs." She pulled out a honey drop bag. "Hmm, 'with chamomile.' I know she likes my chamomile tea, so this ought to be good." She placed it in the basket.

"What kind of healing stuff would this place have?" the boy asked. "I mean, like something to replace an Antidote. My Charmander doesn't like the taste of the standard stuff; he'd almost rather faint from poison than drink an Antidote."

The Paras thought for a moment, then pointed over to Aisle 4. Once taken there, she pointed her scanner at a bar code for a display of small dark bottles. "Natural flavor concentrates. Should a liquid medicine taste undesirable, add a drop or two of flavoring to make it palatable. Works with standard Pokemon medications, non-prescription drugs, and natural oils. If adding to any prescription medicine, please check with your doctor first."

"Huh. That might actually work."

The girl laughed. "You might want to not pick a flavor he loves, or he might just intentionally get poisoned."

"That's true." After looking over several kinds, he took a grape flavoring. "This should be fine."

"Oh look, Lava Cookies," the girl said, picking up an orange and red package. "I hear Pokemon love these."

"Are they actually made with lava?" the boy asked.

"I wouldn't think so... look here. 'This product is not made with volcanic materials. If your Pokemon is inclined to eat rocks, please look for the original recipe in the dark red wrapping.' So maybe some of these are."

The boy picked out a dark red Lava cookie. "Awesome. 'This cookie is made with volcanic materials and is not suitable for human consumption, or for Pokemon with organic diets. Please make certain that your Pokemon can digest this product; otherwise, look for our plant or meat based variations.'"

"Looks like they really did their research on what Pokemon like to eat."

The pair wound up picking out a cookie that each of their Pokemon would like, for a total of seven Lava Cookies. Then they brought the Paras back to the check-out counter. "So now what?" the boy asked.

She hopped onto the counter and waved for them to put their purchases on the counter. After making certain that they had put everything there, she scanned a different bar code on the register. Then she scanned each product one by one, pushing them towards the stack of recycled paper bags. As her memory was excellent, she rarely made a mistake. Once she was done, she scanned the register's bar code again.

"Your total is eight dollars and twenty-three cents," the speaker by the register announced. "Please scan your debit card or deposit your money in the appropriate slots."

"My day to buy stuff, right?" the boy asked. He took his Trainer ID card and scanned that through the register's reader.

The Paras hopped onto the register to where the receipt was printing. When it was done, she tore it off, then offered it up to the boy.

"Thanks," he said. "Responsible Pokemon, aren't you?"

"She's so cute," the girl repeated, patting the mushrooms on her back. "Hope you're not alone too long. Goodbye, little Paras."

She waved a claw to say goodbye to them, then returned to gnawing on her ginger root.

…

Emerald entry: A Paras has parasitic tochukaso mushrooms growing on its back. They grow by drawing nutrients from the host. They are valued as a medicine for long life.

I think Paras is cute anyways. Another session of wondering what ordinary life is like in the Pokemon world.